December 1st, SIU will host Indiana on a game that will be played on ESPNU.
Over the past decade, Southern and Creighton have been battling in every area of the MVC - except one. March. The Saluki's have BY FAR been better in the NCAA tourney than the Jays have and they are now getting the reap the rewards with scheduling.
The biggest name school the Jays have coming to Omaha this year is.....Nebraska. And their name comes from football. The biggest basketball name.....Depaul. A game that CU should have won easily if it wasn't for the 20-6 start for the Blue Demons. That's not exactly an amazing "name" schedule. Now for RPI overall - the Jays' schedule will be fine as with road games at Drexel and Xavier combined with St. Joe and Depaul at home. Yet fans want that "name" to come into their gym. Nobody will come to Omaha yet. But they are now going to Carbondale.
Now, I'm not sure when the game was booked or even how it was booked but the Hoosiers are one of college basketball's elite. Getting them in a MVC gym is an impressive feat. The only reason I can see that IU would go there is that losing to SIU in their gym is no longer a story. It's a crazy place to play....but so is the Qwest Center.
People in the Valley know that but CU is still a little guy compared to what SIU has turned into. That is why Dana's return must now include wins in March. It's the next step for this program and the next hurdle to overcome. If the Jays want top opponents in Omaha - they must win in the Madness.
1 comment:
As I recall, and you can research this, SIU is getting IU because of football. IU pulled out of some football game with SIU. As part of the deal, SIU said they had to play them in basketball.
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